General Assembly Convenes. The first five days of the 2008 session of the Georgia General Assembly wrapped up last week. Committees went back to work immediately, holding hearings on key pieces of legislation, and Governor Perdue delivered his annual "State of the State" address. The most significant action was the vote by the House to override twelve bills vetoed by Governor Perdue at end of the last session as well as the approval by the House of the first-ever statewide water plan, which he House adopted on a vote of 131- 37.

Committee Action. The House Non-Civil Judiciary Committee, on which I serve, approved comprehensive anti-dog-fighting legislation and a bill relating to sex-offender residency restrictions. The full House is expected to vote on the two measures in the next few weeks.

Transportation Issues. Transportation will be a key issue this session as the General Assembly seeks to address our state's growing infrastructure needs. In metropolitan Atlanta, congestion continues to be a problem as our state's population continues to grow. To ensure that our economy and our roads are able to handle growing demand on our infrastructure, the legislature will examine funding mechanisms, commute alternatives, dedicated truck lanes and planning for growth.

Sponsored Legislation. Last week, I presented two tax bills to the House Ways & Means Committee. The first (HB 895) establishes a sales tax-free weekend for the purchase of water- efficient products. The second (HB 896) provides a dollar-for-dollar tax credit against state income taxes for property taxes paid each year. In addition to these measures, I co-sponsored HB 922, which makes it a misdemeanor to break up a large contract into smaller ones simply to avoid threshold limits on the competitive bidding process of a local governing entity. Local government officials who abuse the public trust in this way deserve to be punished, and this legislation will help end these deceptive practices.

Budget Recess. The House was in recess this week to conduct hearings on the supplemental Fiscal Year 2008 and Fiscal Year 2009 State Budgets.

I will continue to keep you up to date on the activities of the General Assembly during the session. As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, please contact me.

If you are interested in more detail about what happened at the General Assembly this session, then please feel free to call or write me or visit the General Assembly website: www.legis.ga.gov. The website provides direct access to the text of legislation and vote tallies as well as schedules and live coverage of committee meetings.

(Another resource is offered when the General Assembly is in session by Georgia Public Broadcasting through a television program called "Lawmakers," which airs daily at 7 PM and rebroadcasts at 5:30 AM the following morning. The program covers each day's events at the Capitol.)

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